Ball State Team Statistics
Field goal percentage - 50.0
3-point percentage - 36.4
Free throw percentage - 71.4
Rebounds - 22
Assists - 13
Turnovers - 7
Bench points - 25
Fastbreak points - 12
Steals - 6
Points off turnovers - 13
Points in the paint - 30
Entering the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 12 seed, the Ball State men's basketball team rallied late but ultimately fell short in an 88-75 loss to No. 5 seed Bowling Green on Monday.
Ball State committed a season-low seven turnovers, but Bowling Green shot 54.9 percent from the field, 50 percent from beyond the arc and made 23 free throws to end the Cardinals' season.
“I thought it was a combination of us not having a good first half on defense, but I thought we had a great second half. But we came up short,” head coach James Whitford said.
Bowling Green was without All-MAC center Richaun Holmes, but his absence was not a big factor for the Falcons throughout the game.
In the game’s first 20 minutes, Bowling Green held a 19-9 rebound advantage over Ball State, centered around its work on the offensive glass.
Though both teams shot efficiently from the perimeter, the Falcons converted offensive rebounds into 11 trips to the free-throw line in the first 17 minutes to keep a comfortable lead for most of the half.
The Cardinals went into the locker room at the break trailing 50-34, their largest deficit of the night.
An 8-0 spurt to start the second half pulled Ball State within 10 at 52-42.
The Bowling Green lead was then cut to six off a couple of free throws and a fastbreak layup from freshman Sean Sellers, who finished with 13.
“That 12-minute stretch was what we we’ve been trying to do consistently,” Whitford said. “We had great intensity on the defensive end; we played with pace and we got the ball from the left side to the right.”
After the Cardinals drew a charge on defense, they used that as momentum to cut the lead to three following a floater by junior Jeremiah Davis.
Davis finished the game with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
Bowling Green responded with a run of its own, however, and regained a 10-point lead with five minutes remaining.
After a 3-pointer from junior Bo Calhoun cut the lead to six, Bowling Green answered back with a 3-pointer and controlled the remaining three minutes to seal the win.
Calhoun led Ball State with 17 points in the loss. He played 32 minutes, as fifth-year senior Matt Kamieniecki was limited to 13 minutes with back pain.
With the loss, the Cardinals end the season with a 17-game losing streak, the longest in school history.
"We put this season behind us, and we're going to get right back to work," Whitord said.
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